Sainsbury’s shed in Haydock sold for £75m

Tritax Big Box REIT has bought the 650,000 sq ft distribution centre in an off-market deal reflecting a net initial yield of 6%.

The deal, arranged by Colliers, sees the REIT securing an asset located close to Junction 23 of the M6.

The cross-dock facility, with chilled and ambient spaces, is currently let to Sainsbury’s until 2038, with an uncapped RPI rent review due in 2028.

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Aaron Hulait, transaction director at Tritax Big Box, said: “This acquisition cements our commitment to carefully curating our portfolio based on our sector strength, experience and knowledge.

“We’re delivering on our objective of rotating out of non-strategic assets, inherited through the acquisition of UKCM, and redeploying capital into attractive logistics opportunities such as Haydock, which has strong build credentials as well as being sited in a location which will support evolving supply chain demands in the North West.”

Michael Kershaw, director in Colliers’ national capital markets team, identified and secured the opportunity for Tritax. He said: “The North West is always a strong market due to the cluster of regional cities with significant population sizes, which are really well served by the UK road network.

“This investment is uniquely positioned to perform very well; the combination of short-term uncapped RPI performance and medium-term rental performance is rare and attractive.”

The property was acquired from a private client of Mutual Finance. Founded by Raed Hanna, Mutual Finance provides real estate financing and debt solutions across commercial real estate asset classes and has arranged more than £50bn in committed facilities during the last 30 years.

Investment deals in the North West big box industrial market hit £10.3bn in 2024, broadly in line with the five-year average, as set out in a January report from B8RE.